Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the commitment made yesterday by an Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, arising from the tabling of this motion and the questions from us and others, that he will raise this matter directly with the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, when he meets with him today. I look forward to the Taoiseach reporting back to the Dáil on what the British Prime Minister has to say in response. The motion before us, which was proposed by Sinn Féin and unanimously endorsed by the House, reinforces the motion passed in July 2008 and thus gives him a full mandate to ask the British Government to do the right thing. It has been repeatedly been asked to do the right thing but has failed to do so. The British Foreign Secretary, William Hague, was reported in the media as citing the supposed legal obstacles and constraints the European Court of Human Rights presents to releasing these files. We do not accept this argument and we expect that Taoiseach will reject the attempt at further procrastination.

The Dublin and Monaghan bombings in 1974, with their devastating impact, were preceded and succeeded by incidents in which the British state played a direct role in co-ordinating loyalist paramilitaries in the murder of Irish citizens. I will focus on an incident that occurred 20 years ago next Wednesday, 25 May, namely, the assassination of Eddie Fullerton, a Sinn Féin councillor, in my hometown of Buncrana. Eddie Fullerton was an elected representative on Buncrana Town Council and Donegal County Council. It is clear when one examines the circumstances of Eddie's assassination that the British state, because it got away in 1974 with co-ordinating the deeds of loyalist paramilitaries who acted in cahoots with British military intelligence, continued to act in this fashion throughout the shoot-to-kill era and the collusion of the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Sinn Féin councillors and members, human rights lawyers, GAA officials and innocent civilians were murdered as part of a systematic campaign. Before that, British military intelligence armed these paramilitaries to the teeth with weapons from South Africa through their conduit, Brian Nelson. It is an horrific story.

One Deputy, who has since left the Chamber, referred to the actions of Irish republicans in the conflict. The difference is that Irish republicans have accepted responsibility for their role in the conflict and have apologised to innocent victims. The British state has never done that. It has never been open or honest about its role in the conflict, whether direct or indirect. In particular, the withholding of its files denies justice to the families of the victims in Dublin and Monaghan on that day in 1974.

I raise the case of Eddie Fullerton not to distract from the focus of this motion but to embolden and strengthen the families by pointing out that the failure of our Government to hold the British Government to account allowed the continued killing of people in this State. Eddie Fullerton lived in a cul-de-sac in Cockhill Park, a small council estate located one mile from Buncrana town. The amount of intelligence required in that assassination or murder was considerable and could not have been collected solely by loyalist paramilitaries. The killers were able to take over a house located one mile from Eddie's home, kidnap the daughter of the family and use the family car and a sledge-hammer belonging to the man of the house to carry out their operation. A second car monitored Eddie's house and when he returned home, two different cars were parked nearby. They knew enough to come around the back of gardens and to use the sledge-hammer on his front door. More importantly, they were familiar with the complex layout of Eddie's house, which had a number of extensions. They made their way immediately to Eddie's door. Eddie fought them at the door and tried to defend his wife but was murdered in a calculated and systematic fashion. The people involved clearly had the benefit of considerable intelligence and military experience. This means the British state, probably directed from No. 10 through its intelligence services, ordered the assassination of an elected representative of the people of County Donegal in this Twenty-six Counties State.

The weapons used to kill the nine victims of the 1993 Greysteel massacre and the four workers at Castlerock where revealed by ballistic evidence to have been used in Eddie's killing. That evidence was already available in 1993 but, incredibly, the Garda did not think it necessary to question the people charged and convicted for those murders. This evidence was discovered by Eddie's immediate family. For the past 20 years, an entire generation of his family has had to campaign for justice when the facts are staring us in the face. I could say more about this case because it emboldens the families of the Dublin and Monaghan victims. Their experience was visited on others over the past 37 years because our Government failed to hold the British Government to account. If it can get away with the murder of so many people, clearly it will not give a thought to the murder of a public representative.

Irish republicans are part of a positive dynamic. Across this island, 400,000 people support our party and we are moving forward with confidence towards the achievement of a united Ireland. We have stood up to our responsibilities as Irish republicans and we are building relationships. The British state has not done the same and that is our key contention when its Head of State, the Queen of England, comes here on the anniversary of the Dublin and Monaghan bombings and the week before the 20th anniversary of Eddie's killing. It is long overdue that the British state, in the guise of either its Queen or its Prime Minister, accepted responsibility for its role in this conflict and its indirect or direct contribution to the deaths of hundreds of Irish people. Let nobody lecture Irish republicans on moving on and not looking back. Those who lecture us never met their responsibilities. They abandoned the families of their own citizens and elected representatives. These families had to become the investigating body on behalf of the Irish people. That is the biggest disservice to the families who are in the Gallery and the relatives of Eddie Fullerton and others. They have had to do the job of the Garda in the absence of an investigation. That is a damning indictment of the Twenty-six Counties State and successive Governments. They should not lecture us when they failed to meet their responsibilities to their own citizens.

When the Taoiseach meets David Cameron and gets over the diplomatic niceties, he needs to represent the collective voice of the 166 Members of this House and of the Irish people by telling the British Government to accept its responsibility for arming loyalists to the teeth and directing them to the homes of victims, and for the direct involvement of its forces in those murders. It must take responsibility for the part it played in the conflict. Irish republicans have stepped up to the plate and it is time for others to do likewise. That is what moving forward is about. That is maturity, that is a state which deals with the legacy of conflict.

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